Sylus's POV
" wake up Sylus, it's morning," Asta's voice came through my head full of life and way too loud,
*Yawn*
I sat up on the bed looking around trying to remember what happened last night, seeing the cream colored curtains pulled over the floor to ceiling window leaving a few gapes for the sunlight to pass through , I was still in yesterdays clothes not that I remember what I was wearing but it smelled like strong drinks, and the shoes I probably kicked away, yeah I'm sure I was drunk yesterday,
everything came back to me in seconds, the boys and I went to the western island for some relaxation and some free time before we started as trainers...
but we ended up taking a week long vacation only returning last night, and yeah I was about half drunk so was Dia but Idris seemed okay .
I dragged myself to the bathroom and looked at my reflection,
man I look like shit, my hair was even worst
I grabbed the towel and turned on the tap
Today we are meeting the top ten of the captain's strong students,
it's been a week already?, Five days more and I have to get back to Earth.
' Asta.. Let's make a little analysis here
The day I came here was Thursday
(and you've spent seven days)his voice came through my thoughts.
which is seven hours there.
it's already morning there, it's Friday, but it's about two am,
if I remember clearly, there was an announcement about a festival and schools will be closed for two weeks in a row,
(that makes Friday the last day at school till the next two weeks.)
if an hour on Earth is a day here,
twenty four hours makes it twenty four days
(but two weeks is fourteen days)
and fourteen days is three hundred and thirty six hours
which is three hundred and thirty six days here,
(don't forget the Saturday and Sunday before the week starts,)
yeah, additional forty eight hours (days) is three hundred and eighty four days, and the six hours(days)
(and the Friday evening, before Saturday starts) So in all I have three hundred and ninety days.
(Wow, you did all that math on your own) he nodded
yeah but don't you think it's strange how I'm suddenly free , come to think of it. Diablo is on vacation too, he has a month of vacation.
(so you're gonna drake that down)
of course...
a month has four weeks each week has seven days and each day has twenty four hours,
it's makes one hundred and sixty eight hours in a week so four weeks is six hundred and seventy two
(he has already spent two week here) he reminded .
two?
(yeah he was here before we came, remember)
so that takes
so he has about... three hundred and thirty six days.
(holy shit that's a lot of days) Asta asked .
yeah but knowing Dia, he is like in charge of this place, he would love to live her forever.
(don't you all do)
yeah you're right
he laughed
Dia and I are free ,
what about Idris, I remember he was talking about something,
but I don't remember
I'll ask him when we run into each other ,
the way all three of us are coincidentally free to train the student....'
my mind trailed off.
( ' Lady Asha' )
we both exclaimed
(she has something to do with this I can smell it) Asta shot up and I laughed.
' well She does know a lot ...and plans in a way they won't have any problems.
It's amusing how she planned this out even before telling us,
she had it all planned out even before we knew our stands. Such a genius.
(are you going to stop staring at my face and get dressed) Asta called
" your face? " I questioned
(please, as if this is how you look, you're only like this because of my appearance so it's my face you're looking at dummy ) I could picture him rolling about.
there is no point arguing with him.
today the students will be here they could be on their way by now,
I wanted to look simple so I pulled out a white shirt and black trousers, I took a relaxing shower earlier and my skin looked smooth so no need for extras.
I let my hair loss and stood in front of the mirror, compared to what I looked like in the morning, there was a mass difference.
one of the servants walked in minutes later.
" Lord, Lady Asha has called you all down stairs we have guests "
"I will be down there" she left after getting her responses
no I'm not going down there, this is fake as heck,
first of all, I haven't even eaten yet, that's not part of the reason but whatever
that servant works specifically for Diablo, if Lady Asha wants me to come down stairs she would have sent Gen, the new guy.
and also we discussed this with her, no one is coming down till the evening when they arrive, she even said it was a great idea
the whole thing screams one name..
Diablo
"Idris ?" I called him out in my telepathy link.
" do you need something, it too early" he spoke
" a maid came to me saying captain is requesting us downstairs ".
" Do I have to tell you. It's Diablo and please with the love of God don't you dare go,
if you get there it would give him a reason to command me too, if I don't show up, the more reason to complain.
Just ignore him and stick to the plan we talked about, we introduce ourselves later, now leave me alone " the line went blank.
Well then I will avoid this as much as possible.
Morning in the garden was never sudden.
It revealed itself slowly, like a spell being unwoven.
I stepped beyond the stone threshold just as the first wind from the sea rushed up to me
The air still carried the coolness of night, touched with the scent of damp earth and night-blooming flowers reluctant to close. Mist clung low to the ground and leaves, curling around the roots of ancient trees,
I followed one of the lesser paths,
the garden went on further than the eye could see.
tall trees line up in a roll , the long grasses danced with the wind and flowers in bloom, the place smelled this mountains and morning due
The garden had been built centuries ago—cultivated, yes, but not tamed. Magic lingered here the way moss lingered on stone: quiet, persistent, impossible to fully remove, silently protecting the smaller life forms,
The household is awake, I can hear the chaos of the kitchen from here, Dia is probably somewhere knowing I'm not coming, and Idris is in the gym right now, unlike me he ever misses a days workout,
I walked farther than intended.
The trees grew taller here, their branches weaving together so densely that the sunlight fell in narrow, cathedral-like beams.
Dust motes drifted through them... no, not dust. Pollen. Gold, faintly luminous.
Then I saw movement ahead.
I slowed.
A clearing opened where I did not remember one being.
And someone stood in it.
She was dressed in white.
Not ceremonial white. Not silk, nor linen, nor anything I recognized. The fabric hung in layers that shifted like fog, trailing lightly as though untouched by weight. At her side rested a katana, its shape unmistakable despite its pale sheath.
A wolf mask covered her face.
Smooth, Expressionless, Watching.
She hadn't noticed me yet
Her attention was fixed on the butterflies.
They filled the clearing,..... dozens of them, perhaps more. Their wings shimmered with impossible colors, catching the light like fragments of stained glass. They settled on her sleeves, her hands, unafraid.
One brushed against the mask, lingered, then drifted away.
The entire scene felt… suspended.
"Good morning." I spoke.
The words sounded louder than intended.
The butterflies scattered instantly, rising in a silent storm of color.
She froze.
Then she turned.
The mask faced me fully now. I could not see her eyes, but I felt the weight of them, a sharp, startled awareness, like that of a wild creature realizing it was no longer alone.
I kept my posture relaxed.
" Are you lost,... you are not within the mapped paths," I said. "This part of the garden is difficult to navigate." that wasn't a lie, I have moved pretty far from the mansion a few more and we will be next to the mountains where the dragons rest.
She did not answer.
For a heartbeat, we simply stood there.
Then the air shifted.
A breeze passed through the clearing. It did not touch the trees beyond us. Only us.
And she moved.
Fast, a precise, fluid retreat. She ran without sound, vanishing between the trees before I could reach the edge of the clearing.
"Wait."
Too late.
I followed, but the forest closed behind her as though she had never passed through. No footprints marked the soil. No branches bent. No trace remained.
Nothing.
I stopped and listened.
Only the garden answered—birds calling, leaves whispering, water somewhere in the distance.
Had I imagined
No, I'm not that type, even if I was I would instantly know,
just as I turned to go back, Something caught my eye near the path.
A fragment of white ribbon snagged on a thorn.
I lifted it carefully. The material was impossibly light, cool against my fingers, faintly luminous in the morning light,
picturing her image once again she did have it in her hair,
did it come off,
I turned slowly, scanning the trees again.
The garden resumed its quiet, ancient composure,
the stillness felt different now.
I slipped the fabric into my pocket and began the walk back
My morning walk doesn't last long, I don't know what happened today,
why did I come this far and Asta is quite too, he usually never leaves me alone at these times,
but that girl,..
I haven't seen her before, she had a Katana on her belt, is she a swordsman,?
I don't know who she could be, she is not a maid, Lady Asha wants all her maid dresses in grey and black and the males dress all white, she wants in grey and black but she isn't a man to dress in white, she cant be a maid.
I don't want to know anymore, but her dress with the katana and the mask, like a fox she even had small bells hanging from the mask. she looked like a fox spirit from the wolf shrine, could that be where she is from,
where ever she could be from I was getting hungry and I'm sure in no time I'm gonna hear Asta's voice, off to the kitchen then.
....
When it's evening we will meet these people they already know us but who again is that girl in the fox mask I wonder if she is one of the students
(can you stop thinking about the fox girl )Asta yelled, currently,
I'm in my room eating ramen.( it s very painful to listen when every sentence ends with ' who is the fox girl ' it's annoying ") .
" Asta it's not every day you see a girl in a fox mask just walking around with a katana" I responded
( please,) he rolled his eyes (I'm in your head when you think about that girl do you know what you look like )
" can't I just eat in peace as I think about the ghost I saw"
(at this rate your obsessed with her ) he replied and vanished
" why you ..."